KSI won his boxing match against Joe Weller after three rounds in the ring.
In August, Joe Weller beat fellow YouTuber Theo Baker in a boxing match, with Olajide ‘KSI’ Olatunji commenting on Joe’s Instagram a month before that he would fight the winner.
Thousands gathered at the Copper Box Arena in London for the fight on 3 February, which came after months of public feuds between the pair online.
KSI walked on to his track Uncontrollable, while Insomnia by Faithless was Joe Weller’s track.
The first round of a planned six saw KSI fire left hooks and strong blows, whilst Joe took a more defensive approach.
In the second round, Joe cornered KSI a few times, but KSI had him in a headlock before the round ended with Joe on the floor.
In the final round, Joe had two standing counts, until a final charge by KSI handed him the win.
Speaking in November, KSI told TenEighty: “I wasn’t really taking it seriously but then [Joe] took it really seriously, and made a video and everything saying, ‘KSI’s a pussy, he doesn’t want to fight me, blah blah blah’. I was like, ‘Fine, we can fight, it’s not that deep’. And then the press conference happened. It got really serious after that.”
In September, Joe and KSI took to the stage at the Upload gaming convention in London for a pre-fight press conference, where the pair exchanged insults before things turned physical. During a face-off, Joe proceeded to push KSI, which prompted KSI to launch at him, flipping tables and pushing security guards in the process.
Both YouTubers later uploaded videos in response to the altercation, with KSI saying Joe had “awoken the fucking demon inside of me”:
Meanwhile, in his reaction, Joe said the message of “standing up for what you believe in” is what “the whole experience” is about for him:
Since then, the pair endured months of training, with KSI and Joe posting the occasional clip from their preparations on their channels.
Last week, the YouTubers shared pre-match videos on social media. In a nine-second clip, KSI said: “Yeah, I’m not going to lose. I can’t lose. I can’t lose.”
Can’t wait to share this journey with you guys after the fight… pic.twitter.com/vsnTYfadKB
— KSI (@KSIOlajidebt) January 24, 2018
Joe also showed fans his training on Twitter:
— Joe Weller (@joe_weller_) January 27, 2018
The final pre-match event was a press conference in London yesterday, where the two fighters continued to exchange harsh words.
“All I’m going to say is that you’re going to see the difference between an actor and an athlete,” Joe said.
KSI replied: “It’s going to be good, bro. Legit. [The True] Geordie… You know in the podcast, you were like, to Joe, ‘It seems like you’ve turned from a boy into a man’? I like that. So, you know what? I can’t wait to beat the shit out of you and beat the manhood out of you and turn you back into a boy.”
The fight then took place at around 5:50pm this evening, with KSI being crowned winner one minute and 37 seconds into the third round by technical knockout (TKO).
Speaking after the fight, KSI said “I talked the talk and I walked the walk” and admitted Joe was “tougher than I thought”. He also thanked fans who had been there “from day one” and went on to call out Logan and Jake Paul.
Meanwhile, Joe said KSI was a “heavy hitter” and said he was “so happy”. He added, “I feel like I have grown as a person.”
Now the match is over, the pair have both hinted that they will be publishing videos about their journey up to the fight. In a video from September, Joe said he’ll be making “a big documentary”, while KSI tweeted that he “can’t wait to share this journey” with his viewers after this evening’s event.
Want more?
Read more of KSI’s chat with TenEighty from last year and have a closer look at how the two prepared for the fight.
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